Palestinians: When in Doubt, Try Intimidation

The Palestinians argue that security cameras on the Temple Mount would be used by Israel to identify and arrest Muslim worshippers who protest against visits by Jews. What they seem to have forgotten is that these "protesters" regularly harass Jewish groups and individuals touring the Temple Mount.

While Mahmoud Abbas claimed he was in favor of the plan to install the security cameras, his Islamic clerics and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials continued to incite against the plan.

The straw that broke the Jordanian back was a leaflet that was distributed at the Temple Mount during Friday prayers two weeks ago. The leaflet urged Muslims to smash any cameras installed at the holy site.

In one blow, Palestinians have managed to undermine Jordan's historic role as "custodian" of the holy sites in Jerusalem and humiliate King Abdullah, who was the mastermind of the camera plan.

Succumbing to Palestinian intimidation, Jordan has dropped its plan to install surveillance cameras at the Haram Al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), or Temple Mount.

The cancellation of the plan is seen as a severe blow not only to Jordan, but also to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who, in October 2015, brokered the agreement to install the cameras at the site.

Kerry announced then that Jordan and Israel had agreed to round-the-clock video surveillance, with the goal of reducing tensions at the Temple Mount.

Since then, however, the Palestinians, who have unleashed a wave of violent attacks on Israel in a purported response to Israeli "provocations" at the Temple Mount, have been campaigning against the plan to install the security cameras there. This week, it turned out that this campaign of intimidation was not in vain.

The Palestinians argue that the cameras would be used by Israel to identify and arrest Muslim worshippers who protest against visits by Jews to the Temple Mount. What they seem to have forgotten is that these "protesters" regularly harass Jewish groups and individuals touring the Temple Mount. The "protesters" are known as murabitoun (the Steadfast) and their main mission is to stop Jews from touring the Temple Mount. Some are affiliated with the Palestinian Authority (PA), while others are on the payroll of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

How Kerry will respond to this spit in the face remains to be seen. Not a sound was heard from him throughout the months of the Palestinian campaign to scuttle the plan.

With the U.S. deafeningly quiet on the subject, the Jordanians were left alone to deal with the Palestinian intimidation.

As the Palestinian threats intensified, Jordan's King Abdullah dispatched his foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, to an urgent meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

At the meeting, Abbas did his old bait-and-switch trick. Claiming that he was in favor of the plan to install the security cameras at the Temple Mount, his Islamic clerics and Palestinian Authority officials continued to incite against the plan.

Abbas's foreign minister, Riad Malki, denounced the plan as a "new trap." He warned that Israel would use the cameras to arrest Palestinians under the pretext of "incitement."

Malki is here referring to the male and female Muslim worshippers whose mission is to harass and intimidate Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount. Thus, the PA foreign minister wishes to maintain the right to threaten Jews at the Temple Mont without being documented or caught on camera.

Palestinian Arab young men with masks, inside Al-Aqsa Mosque (some wearing shoes), stockpile rocks to use for throwing at Jews who visit the Temple Mount, September 27, 2015.

The Islamic Movement in Israel, headed by Sheikh Raed Salah, joined the chorus of critics by issuing its own threats to thwart the camera plan.

The straw that broke the Jordanian back was a leaflet that was distributed at the Temple Mount during Friday prayers two weeks ago. The leaflet urged Muslims to smash any cameras installed at the holy site. Who was behind the leaflet remains unclear, but sources in East Jerusalem blamed Palestinian activists and members of the Islamic Movement in Israel. The latest threat came as Jordan announced that the cameras would be installed at the site in the coming days.

Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour made no bones about the decision to drop the plan: it was, he stated, a direct response to Palestinian "opposition" and "reservations." He also noted that Israel had agreed to the installation of the cameras.

"At the beginning, Israel tried to hinder the project through various means," Ensour said. "But we were able to overcome that." He said that Jordan was nevertheless "surprised" by the reaction of the Palestinians to the cameras initiative.

Jordan has made clear that it was the Palestinians, and not Israel, who foiled the installation of more than 50 surveillance cameras at the Temple Mount as a stop towards easing tensions there.

Yet, no reaction from Kerry.

In one blow, Palestinians have managed to undermine Jordan's historic role as "custodian" of the holy sites in Jerusalem and humiliate King Abdullah, who was the mastermind of the camera plan. They managed to do so largely thanks to the failure of the U.S. Administration to follow up on the implementation of the Kerry-brokered agreement.

We are seeing an old movie. Once again, the Palestinians have strong-armed their way to disaster. Their incessant intimidation fails to achieve a truly worthy goal: a better life under a non-dictatorial regime.

Once again, the Palestinians have prevailed -- and in their win, they lose yet again.

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18 Reader Comments

Harvey • May 2, 2016 at 15:49

The behaviour of the so-called Palestinians leaves no doubt in my mind who is causing all the strife, but the anti-semites will no doubt blame the Jews for the failure once again of a sensible plan.

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tiki • Apr 24, 2016 at 08:41

As long as the world and her international institutions keep following & propagating Palestinian lies, fantasies and narratives as a legitimate policy, the world and the Palestinian Arabs will suffer!

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mjazz • Apr 23, 2016 at 18:25

I saw a clip where an Arab woman went off screaming bloody murder because a Jewish guy was getting a drink of water from a faucet that the Muslims wash their feet with. They will use the most trivial of things to invent an offense to riot over.

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Mels • Apr 23, 2016 at 03:52

Jordan's plan to install 50 security cameras on the Temple Mount, which lsrael supported, came to nothing when Palestinians, true to form, again shot themselves in the foot by claiming that the cameras would be used by lsrael to arrest Muslims for attacking Jews trying to visit their two thousand year old Holiest Site (why else?).

Of course, Europeans, also true to form, won't hesitate to claim that Israel's support for the cameras was an attempt to spy on and entrap the innocent Palestinians. As long as the criminal Palestinian educational system, as well as it's leadership (leadership?LOL) continue to create terrorists and martyrs, similar situations will continue and nothing will ever change. The UN Org. UNESCO has failed the Palestinians.

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Frank Adam • Apr 22, 2016 at 15:32

Ever since the late 50's TV sports commentators have had ample and ever more manageable long distance lenses for close up shots. The Temple Mount or Haram es Shareef is not much bigger than a large sports arena. It should not be impossible to put cameras on a set on "poles" outside the Temple Mount looking in and after the next riot demolish the housing along the West wall of the enclosure as it is medieval and not historic precisely to demilitarise the Temple Mount from being used as a fortress?

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steven L • Apr 22, 2016 at 14:46

Its main purpose is the promotion of war against Israel and the Jews.

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Mickey Oberman • Apr 22, 2016 at 12:35

True to his Islamic religion, Abdullah decided not to keep an agreement. Are you surprised?

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John Miller • Apr 22, 2016 at 10:43

This is a classic case of evil insisting on the secrecy of anonymity. John 3:19 describes the principle that is being demonstrated here. Wicked men (and women) cannot bear their actions being exposed to scrutiny, but rather insist on hiding in the darkness of disguise, allowing them to continue with the denial of their evil deeds.

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wdvander • Apr 22, 2016 at 10:16

What does Jordan have to do with anything that happens on the Temple Mount? Jerusalem is in Israel, not Jordan.

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Mike • Apr 22, 2016 at 09:33

The Palestinian opposition to cameras makes it 100% clear to anyone with half a brain what is going on.

There's room for Israel to make a LOT of meat out of this issue, and they should.

While I'm against pervasive surveillance in general, a place like the Temple Mount is truly a special case, and anyone who is against video has something to hide.

Surely the Palestinians would like the video, to aid in the prosecution of the Jews that are harassing them at the site?

Oh, wait, maybe Jews aren't harassing them so much, but it's the other way around.

Now proven, WITHOUT video, by opposition to video.

I would consider closing the Temple Mount to all "for security reasons" until video is installed!

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Jeff Page • Apr 22, 2016 at 09:28

Intimidation, acts of violence, threatening behaviour. Prime examples of how the Muslim mindset works! When all that fails then they resort to playing the victim. The Muslims are a complete and utterly bizarre people, stuck in the Middle Ages with no likelihood of ever embracing any others who inhabit this world unless they are fellow Muslims. But even then, they must be of the same sect otherwise they'll never offer a peaceful solution to anything. They are a truly mixed up and totally puzzled people. Why world leaders still want any dealings with them is strange indeed, they really aren't worth the air they breathe!

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DockyWocky • Apr 22, 2016 at 08:52

Apparently, Palestinians are seldom in doubt and it shows.

Of course, doubt means losing, and they are experts at losing.

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Ora • Apr 22, 2016 at 08:29

Khaled Abu Toameh says that there was no reaction from Kerry on the refusal of the Palestians to have the cameras installed. He also said, "How Kerry will respond to this spit in the face remains to be seen." No, Mr. Abu Toameh, we know exactly how he will respond. He will claim it was "rain".

Kerry is only the mouthpiece of Obama and if Obama reneged on his pledge not to let Assad get away with using chemical weapons, does anyone expect him to react to this? Mr. Abu Toameh wrote that "What they [the Palestinians] seem to have forgotten is that these "protesters" regularly harass Jewish groups and individuals touring the Temple Mount." No, Mr. Abu Toameh, "they" haven't forgotten. They know what they are doing. It is Kerry and Obama who CHOOSE to forget these facts. It gets in the way of their agenda.

Nevertheless, I once again commend Khaled Abu Toameh for telling it as it is. Too bad the people who need to learn and accept the truth refuse to do so.

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Andrew H. • Apr 22, 2016 at 07:49

No one in the world should have to live with constant threat of terrorism and constant complaints from impossible neighbors. Americans and Europeans shouldn't have to put up with the demeaning pre-flight searches and all other security inconveniences. Israelis shouldn't have to put up with never ending strife. When will the free world learn from Queen Isabella who found the only solution. Get the Muslims out of your country.

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jeb • Apr 22, 2016 at 06:47

Why would Kerry care? He is all about window dressing nothing he or his boss have done over the past 7 years has substance.Obama Kerry are unilateral advocates of peace.

With the newest "truther" conspiracy theory that Saudi Arabia, a better ally to Israel, was behind 9-11 and victims survivors should be allowed to sue the Kingdom, Obama Kerry are upping their investment "in revolution".

Why would they care if Muslims harass and perhaps commit heinous on the Temple Mount? They believe its Israel's fault and the USA too.

Despite words to the contrary in their anti-war and Western ideology they don't truly believe Israel should exist as a Jewish homeland. They have done little to nothing to call attention or stop the genocide of Christians in the region people who predate Islam by nearly a millennium.

Kerry and Obama's thoughtless ideology embodied by their belief in "moderate" Muslims is based on a renunciation of Christianity and Judaism. They readily accept the belief Islam should define their origins and Judaism and Christianity even though it has absolutely no link with Mohammed epic. Christianity is barely recognizable in the Koran and Moses, is hardly linked to Torah. If you hate the two faiths it is understandable why they would buy into Islam. Judaism and Christianity are linked if only by the fact Christianity began as a Jewish sect founded by Jews, Jesus himself was Jewish.

Muslims see attacks on the Kotel and in fact any Jewish artifacts where ever found establishing a different history than that told by the Prophet, they do not defend the faith by arguing its merits, its much easier simply to destroy whatever they do not agree with or die trying.

What are those people doing they are so ashamed they don;t want to be seen doing it in public? Worshiping Allah?

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Elaine • Apr 22, 2016 at 06:25

Perhaps somebody should explain the concept of Taquia to John Kerry. In that light, he might also like to examine the Oslo Accords and subsequent events.

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Robert Davis • Apr 22, 2016 at 06:00

Of course Khaled Abu Toameh is a friendly Arab and the few friendly Arabs such as him do not fall in the category of Arabs to be expelled. But the great majority of fake "Palestinians" since they are Jordanians since 1948 must be expelled to Jordan and the way they behave on Temple Mount, Jerusalem and elsewhere is one more reason for Israel not to accept any longer their presence in the Jewish provinces. It's evident their presence means perpetual war for Israel and this is precisely what Israel's enemies, lefter socialist totalitarians and Arab imperialists want. As to third parties eager to MEDDLE illegally in Israel's politics, they simply should be expelled from any kind of negociations if Israel wants to live in peace and force its neighbours to stop the harassing if they in turn want to live in peace. But this is what the meddlers do not want.

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Ora Robert Davis • Apr 25, 2016 at 18:44

Robert, I find your comment "Of course Khaled Abu Toameh is a friendly Arab and the few friendly Arabs such as him do not fall in the category of Arabs to be expelled," quite disturbing. It reminds me of what people who are accused of being anti-semitic say, "Some of my best friends are Jews".

I happen to be an Israeli and I disagree with your contention that the Arabs should be expelled. Israeli Arabs have every right to live in Israel and have equal rights as citizens. Of course there are some, even among the Arab members of our Knesset (parliament) that incite against the State. I wish they could be dealt with more harshly but Israel is a democracy. As for the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza, until they get decent leaders who do not brainwash them into hating all Jews, they will continue to suffer.

By the way, I am not a left-leaning bleeding heart. Far from it. However, I try to let my brain and not my emotions guide me in forming opinions.